Boko Haram violence taking ‘devastating toll’ on children – UNICEF

Years of violence by Islamist Boko Haram militants have taken a “devastating toll” on children living in the Lake Chad basin, the United Nations Children’s Fund has said.

The insurgency displaced 1.4 million children in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger and left at least another one million trapped in areas that are hard to reach or under the control of Boko Haram, the agency said.

An estimated 475,000 children across Lake Chad are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year, up from 175,000 at the beginning of the year, according to the report.